Losing a pet is like losing a family member and, when that dreaded day comes when your beloved animal has to be put down, it can be one of the most devastating times.

Many people can't bear to be in the same room while the vet puts their pet to sleep - but if this sounds like you, you might want to reconsider and put yourself through the pain of watching.

A vet has revealed the heartbreaking thing pets usually do in their final moments when being put down - and it's all caused by their owners.

Jessi Dietrich explained on Twitter that she had asked her vet to share the hardest part about his job.

She then recalled his response: "He said when he has to put an animal down 90% of owners don't actually want to be in the room when he injects them so the animal's last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners & tbh that broke me (sic)"

Sedated cat being scanned for microchip by vet (Image: iStockphoto)

Read More

Jessi went on to say: "And for this reason I'm literally gonna be cradling my homeboy rick when his time comes with all his favorite (sic) toys and endless ear scratches at the ready regardless of how distraught I am."

The devastating revelation quickly went viral, getting retweeted more than 40,000 times and 'liked' more than 180,000 times since it was shared at the end of July.

People started sharing their heartbreaking stories of what happened when their pets died - upsetting everyone all over again.

Another Twitter user, who claims to be a technician at a vet clinic, shed some light on the heartbreaking claims. She said: "I’d say 80% of owners want to be there! But we give them an injection to make them sleepy first (basically surgically anesthetized) so the transition is that much smoother.

"And when owners don’t want to be a part of the actual euthanasia, they stay for the sedation part so at least they are with them until they are sleeping. Makes everything so peaceful (well as peaceful as that can be I guess)."

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Jessi's tweet had such a strong response - mainly from people who were very upset - she apologised to everyone, saying: "Didn't mean to break everyone's hearts just wanted to raise awareness!!!!! I'm so sorry."